Preview

Abolitionist Movement: The Freedom of Slaves

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
430 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Abolitionist Movement: The Freedom of Slaves
Abolition Movement Essay by: Caroline C.

In the mid 1800’s, the Abolitionist Movement was undertaken to promote the freedom of slaves. One of the men who wanted to abolish slavery was Frederick Douglass. He used non-violent means by writing a newspaper called The North Star. Other men like John Brown supported the abolitionist by using violence and rebellion to attack Harpers Ferry. Frederick Douglass’s actions were the best way to ensure liberty and equality for all because his actions were non-violent. Frederick Douglass had been a slave himself, who had been beaten and abused. This experience led him to actively oppose and work against slavery. He wrote speeches, spoke out at anti slavery organizations, and encouraged people to speak out and express freedom. In his newspaper, The North Star, he stated, “…the man who has SUFFERED THE WRONG, is the man to DEMAND REDRESS, -that the man STRUCK is the man to CRY OUT-and that he who ENDURED THE CRUEL PANGS OF SLAVERY is the man to ADVOCATE LIBERTY.” The commanding words explained how Douglass had suffered the wrong, and is now demanding for equal rights. He had suffered the cruel pains of slavery, and now is advocating and supporting freedom. John Brown’s father was a big influence on him to oppose slavery. He told Brown you must do “right”, or you will answer to God. Brown became an abolitionist hero, as a result of attacking the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, to capture guns, free slaves to join him, and start a war. “Talk! Talk! Talk! That will never free the slaves. What we need is action---action!” are the powerful words Brown spoke at a meeting in Boston. He saw the Abolitionist Movement as a war against slaves “slavery, throughout its entire existence… is none other than a most unjustifiable war of one portion of citizens upon another portion.” Frederick Douglass’s actions and viewpoints were better than John Brown’s actions. He wrote about his life and gave speeches to anti-slavery

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1793. It stated that any slave owner could turn in any fugitive slave with proof of course. Additionally, those who provided shelter for the fugitives were also liable to arrest. However, this act began to lose its touch. Abolitionists began ignoring it and created The Underground Railroad. So, hoping to revive the act, another one was passed in 1950.…

    • 67 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Brennen Ms. Lantman English 1.. 4/21/24 John Brown was a civil rights activist who took a direct stand against slavery with the intention of ending slavery. In his life, John Brown became a conductor on the Underground Railroad as well as leader of a militia that took down pro-slavery movements. John Brown also became the head of anti-slavery guerillas in the areas he moved to. John Brown had a meeting with Frederick Douglass, outing the war to free slaves. These three events highlight why John Brown is one of the most important figures who contributed to abolishing slavery, so let's dive in, shall we?…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Frederick worked as a reformer from his abolitionist activities. For 16 years he edited an influential black newspaper. He achieved international fame as an inspiring and persuasive speaker and writer. Frederick was the most important black American leader in the nineteenth century.…

    • 171 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    John brown has been looked upon by many as a hero, but was he really a hero? Let’s look at the thing’s he’s done for abolition and think to ourselves as we read, “is this really what a ‘hero’ would do?” I’ll go into more detail later through out this of course, but for now, let’s review the gist of what he has “done for abolition.” From the third document, it states that he led only 21 men into the military arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. That was basically suicide for them. Yes, it was very brave of him, but he should have realized 21 men wouldn’t be enough for how many men that military had. He planned to give the weapons from the arsenal to slaves and start a chain reaction of revolts throughout the Southeast. All I have to ask is really? Did he really think that it would be that easy to take from the arsenal? Not only that, but in document two it also states that in 1856, Brown and six of his followers got revenge for the violence in Lawrence by killing five settlers in the pro-slavery camps along the Pottawatomie Creek. He also fled to Kansas, like a coward, to escape prosecution. This should be enough information for you, but let’s go into further detail.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How one views John Brown’s place in American history depends widely on where one is located geographically. If one is in the middle of the United States in a state like Kansas then one might have the view that John Brown’s efforts to keep slavery from spreading westward are heroic. If one is in the Southern region of the country you might have the viewpoint that Brown was nothing more than a terrorist that acted unjustifiably with his actions at Harpers Ferry. Brown himself obviously felt justified in his actions and that he was working through God, “I believe that to have interfered as I have done, in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right.” The fact of the matter is that today while his mind might have been in the…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Brown was an American born abolitionist who actively fought Slavery through the use of violence. His ultimate goal was to overthrow the entire system of Slavery in the south, and he went about doing so through armed attacks, including his infamous raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. John Brown’s armed attack on Harper’s Ferry caused a major dispute between the nation’s separate slavery movements, and had substantial effects in the social and political ideologies of the American people. His antics ultimately played a key role in the swaying of opinions towards slavery leading into the upcoming presidential election of 1860, and as a result, should be considered America’s first true hero. Despite his poorly thought out, and short lasting raid…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What we need is action—action! !” which during a rebellion in Kansas, him and others killed 5 pro-slavery people which was known as the “Pottawatomie Massacre”. This helped motivate John Brown into planning a slave rebellion which were he…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Brown changed American history by following his religious beliefs, his violence to end slavery and dying for what he believed in.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    John Brown was an abolitionist during the lead up to the Civil War. He believed that God chose him to end slavery and kill southerners with only violence in his toolbelt. Brown had controversy over his actions. The nation was already tenuous and the murders that John Brown committed only added to that. The north was all for it, Brown was doing what they hadn’t had the courage to do. The southerners were outraged, claiming Brown for a traitor.…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were heroic men who fought for freedom and liberty. Frederick Douglass was a modest man. He fought through the hardest of times and he got through them. When Douglass was pushed down he got right back up. Robert Hayden says in his poem that, “this former slave, this Negro beaten to his knees, exiled, visioning the world where none is lonely, none hunted, alien, this man, superb in love and logic, this man shall be remembered.(SB p.70)” This quote is saying that Douglass was beaten down but he never gave up and he kept fighting for what he believed in. Frederick Douglass is a hero for standing up for what he believed in and for helping end slavery. He was a very famous orator and abolitionist. In the…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Brown Terrorist

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    John Brown was a freedom fighter. For multiple reasons, and research on John Brown and the incidents in which he was involved in have led me to believe he is a freedom fighter. Although John Brown’s actions have not been justified. He did them with a purpose in which he did not inspire the threat of fear.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1850s was a time of disagreement especially on the topic of slavery, but using this as an excuse to commit JOhn Brown's bloodthirsty actions is wrong. Yes, people were violent, but John brown exceed violent. DOcument H explains how Harpers Ferry caused the disunion. If JOhn brown would have used more peaceful tactics slavery could have still been abolished. Looking at today's more recent history, Mandela, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. all acted with peaceful tactics, but still achieved their goal. Document K is a picture of a giant John Brown standing holding a gun and a paper in the middle of the northerns and southerns in war. This shows how he was in the middle of this all and caused the war to happen. He is also holding a gun, indicating he is all for war and killing. On another note, he is stepping on someone’s head on the right side, leading me to believe this was a southerner. That shows he very clearly took a side in this war. Connecting, JOhn Brown went to extremes even in a time of conflict which was wrong and no one else of this time did…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    John Brown is famous for his attack on Harpers Ferry. Abraham Lincoln had called him a “misguided fanatic”. John Brown was a “misguided fanatic” only because he thought what he was doing what was right. Frederick Douglass writes in his last meeting with Brown, “It would be an attack upon the Federal government, and would turn the whole country against us.” Douglass knew that Brown would not make it out alive, yet he let him go. October 16, 1859, Brown and 21 other men attack Harpers Ferry. Within 36 hours all men are either captured or killed. On the day of his trial, he says, “I believe that to have done what I have done--on behalf of God’s despised poor was not wrong, but right.” He believed that in order to stop slavery he was to arm slaves…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    John Brown Abolitionism

    • 2031 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Throughout the early history of the United States, the development of two clearly diverse cultures, the Northern culture and the Southern culture, had acted as an adverse foreshadowing of the internal conflict to come. The hostility between these two cultures peaked in the mid-1800’s over their different economic and social ways, but more specifically, over the issue of slavery. During this time, the South was defending their right to practice slavery, while the North’s desire to end this “inhumane” practice was becoming increasingly powerful. Yet, the North’s crusade to end slavery had no banner, no rallying point, or no kindling with which to fuel this burning desire. The North needed someone to rally behind, and John Brown became…

    • 2031 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    This narrative begins with the childhood of Frederick Douglass and ends with his adventures as an abolitionist. He gives insight into his personal recollections of his first awareness of what it meant to be a slave, from his own experiences and his experience as a witness to the brutality of one human being upon another human being. He allows readers through his words to have a front row seat to the world of slavery and the main objective of slavery supporters to dehumanize and oppress another race and culture. The goal of his prose is to raise awareness of the cruelty of man upon the backs of blacks, which subsequently he hoped would end…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays